Thawing & Draining Frozen Spinach

Spinach is a nutrient-rich, miracle food. Of course, raw, fresh spinach is best. But, I think frozen, chopped spinach is a convenient and easy way to pack your recipes with leafy greens. I use frozen spinach at least once a week in my breakfast dishes and sometimes as a side dish. Search the Recipes Archive for recipes using frozen spinach. Below is a step by step tutorial on thawing and draining frozen spinach.

Empty contents of box or bag into a strainer set inside a medium bowl. If you don't have a strainer, put the spinach directly into the bowl.

Fill the bowl with cool water from your tap and let sit for five minutes.

If using a strainer, lift the strainer from the bowl and dump out the water. Return the strainer to the bowl. If not using a strainer, use your hand or a pot lid to drain most of the water, being careful not to lose too many pieces of spinach.

Fill the bowl with water again, using your hands to gently break up bits of frozen spinach. Again, let the spinach sit for five minutes. Again, drain the water. (If frozen bits remain, repeat the steps above one more time.)

Lay a clean dishrag on the counter. Using your hand, transfer the spinach by handfuls to the dishrag, squeezing out excess water as you do so. Fold the dishrag lengthwise over the spinach.

Twist either end of the dishrag and then "wring" out the spinach over the sink. If needed, move the spinach to a dry portion of the dishrag and repeat the wringing step.

You will have a well drained ball of spinach that wont turn your recipes into a soggy mess!

Spinach & Artichoke Frittata

(Shown above with roasted red pepper pine nut dipping sauce and coffee with a splash of unsweetened soy milk and a dash of cinnamon)

Four Servings

INGREDIENTS

10 eggs (10 whites, only 6 yolks)
2 - 3 Tablespoons unsweetened soy milk
1 - 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.
10 oz. frozen, chopped spinach*
14 oz. can artichoke hearts in water, drained and cut into sixths
1/2 C. onion (approximately 1/2 medium onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 - 2 Tablespoons crumbled feta (optional)
Salt & Pepper

DIRECTIONS

Begin thawing spinach. See Tip: Thawing & Draining Frozen Spinach for a tutorial.
While spinach is thawing, crack eggs into a medium bowl, getting rid of four of the yolks. I separate the yolk from the white using the cracked shell, but if you find that too difficult or annoying you can always just remove the yolk from the bowl with your hand.
Add soymilk, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper to eggs and whisk with a fork until blended. Set aside.
Drain the spinach. See Tip: Thawing & Draining Frozen Spinach for a tutorial.
Turn on oven and set Broiler to High.
Heat the olive oil in a 12", oven-proof skillet** over medium-high heat.
Add onions, cook, stirring occasionally until golden.

Reduce heat to medium, add spinach and garlic, stir to combine, season with salt and pepper and cook 1 minute.
Add artichoke hearts, stir mixture until heated through, approximately 2 minutes more.
Spread mixture evenly over skillet and pour egg mixture on top. If needed, tilt the skillet from side to side to evenly distribute eggs. If using, sprinkle feta cheese on top.

Cook until bottom is set, approximately 4 minutes. There will be a thin layer of runny egg on top.
Put the skillet in the broiler and cook until golden, approximately 5 minutes more.
Remove the frittatta from the broiler and allow to cool for a couple of minutes and then use a wooden spatula to cut the frittatta into eighths. Divide on to four plates.

* Make sure to get chopped rather than whole leaf spinach. Frozen spinach typically comes in a 10 oz box from most grocery stores or a 16 oz bag from Trader Joe's. I used about 2/3 of the TJ's bag of chopped spinach for this recipe.
** If you don't have an oven-proof skillet (I don't) cover the plastic handle with tin foil.